Petroleum engineering is a field specialized in the search, development and exploitation of reservoirs of hydrocarbons. In this endeavor, companies have extended their exploration from land to lakes, and the ocean. Year 2010, marked an environment and economic disaster never seen in the history of the United States of America. British Petroleum was drilling in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Due to a set of wrong human decisions and a mechanical failure, the world was seen how a high pressure oil/gas well was pouring thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean for several months. So far, there is not any method of technology that has been invented in order to shut down a high pressure oil/gas well in few days, rather than in months.
The closest attempt to shut down an oil well like Macondo in the Gulf of Mexico in year 2010 is placing a second set of blow out preventers “BOP's” on the top of the ones that failed, and trying to close them; the imminent risk is that the casing could fail due to the high downhole pressure, yielding to a fracture that could extend the leak to the ocean floor. So, the well integrity is compromised.
So far, the oil/gas industry does not have a way to stop an oil/gas leak from a well in a short period of time. The only safe way to do that is to drill one or two lateral wells to intercept the one that is leaking. This operation could take several months before it is done. In addition, it brings all the risks associated with drilling. My method for the problem is to use a grid to build a downhole filter in the well. Once the filter has been set, it is easier to plug it and kill it off.